Techno Buffalo: "As the legend goes, Final Fantasy VII came to the PlayStation in North America on Sept. 7, 1997, and the JRPG genre immediately became the leading force in the video game industry. For the next five years, Square would dominate the sales charts and leave other companies struggling to keep up with their own established properties. Final Fantasy ruled the world, and there wasn’t anything anyone could do about it!
But what about before Final Fantasy VII? Surely, the genre already had some fans if Square took such a large risk publishing the game with such magnitude on the North American market. Well, unlike what you might have heard, the JRPG certainly had a large number of fans before Final Fantasy VII came onto the scene. Trust me, I was there and was already one of these nerds."
I just can't get over how stupid and nonsensical a name for a title Beyond the Beyond is
I completely agree with this article. Suikoden is my favorite "traditional JRPG" ever. Two is right up there as well.